November 15, 2016

Since the Election

Since the election, I have
been swimming in worry and confusion. I spent much of last week scrolling
through Facebook and Twitter, hoping that something I saw there would help
things make more sense. Instead, every report of the aftermath, every
prediction about Trump's policies, and every post assigning blame only made me
feel more despair about the effects of this decision. It is not so much the
emboldened white nationalists, the fear-driven policies, or the tax plan that
worries me; compassion and justice can overcome these things. It is the
responses I see that make me fear for the future of our country.

Many of my friends are, like
me, liberal Christians who have the least to fear for their
personal safety and dignity. I have to confess that the majority of their posts
have disappointed me a bit; every new Trump quote or revelation sparks a new
chorus of wails. I am wondering when we will get around to doing the hard work
the next four years are going to require of us.

We have work to do in our own
communities: finding more ways to stand in solidarity with those who are
threatened, building understanding rather than contempt across party lines, and
caring for the poor and the planet when a man who considers them disposable
takes power.

But we also have work to do in
our own hearts. We have seen that Trump’s only guiding value is the seizure of
power and privilege over others. This could be the moment educated liberals
take the chance to re-evaluate our tactics and our rhetoric: Will we continue
to deride and berate people who do not share the privilege of education,
experience with diversity, economic opportunity? Or will we trade our need to
be right for a dogged determination to ask the right questions and listen to
the answers?

This could be the moment the
church takes the chance to re-root itself in the gospel. We hoped that
government would be a partner in compassion and justice; it will not be. Will
we throw more energy at responding to a government that hasn’t yet been formed?
Or will we learn more words to speak ever more precisely about racism,
classism, heterosexism, Islamophobia—or will we draw closer to our neighbors of
different colors, classes, and religions?

We have now had a week to come
to grips with reality. The time for instinctive reactions is drawing short. Now
is the time to carefully consider what it means to effect change in a
democracy; what privileges we are still blind to; what sacrifices we have yet
to make if we hope to bind up the wounds of others. And, most importantly, what
it means to be a Christian led by Christ in a radical and even a supernatural
resistance to the pride, greed, and indifference that touches every person in
our culture.

It occurs to me now that Facebook and
Twitter do not encourage humility or action. This week I will not be monitoring
feeds for the answer, but praying through the Beatitudes and meeting with those
in my community who can connect me with the poor and the oppressed. This week,
may we all find peace and discomfort in the word of God.